Refrigeration control valve



Aug. 8, 1950 K. E. WILSON REFRIGERATION CONTROL VALVE Filed y 6. 194a I I vENToR :75 .5. Milton ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 8, 1950 I 2,518,212 EEFRIGERATION ooN'raoL vAnvE K tt e Wilso e en eleaflali a. Application May 1*6, 1946,8 eria1No. 6701191 'elam 'msi. 01. 62-115) The invention. relates to. a refrigeration control valve that enables: the use of? a, receiver tank ona refrigeration system that. USES: a capillary tube, restrictor or orifice: as the metering de-. vice; thereby allowing their use on all refrigera= tion systems; regardless. of size, which has not been practical or safe withoutthis control valve which prevents any dangerous pressure being de veloped in the system, affords automatic pump down in case of stoppage in the metering device, and pumps down for service and shipping purpose An object of the invention is to, provide an improved control. valve which, is simple. and compact in construction, highly efficient in operation and inexpensive to manufacture.

With the above and other objects. and: advantages in view the invention consists of the novel. details of. construction; arrangement. and combination of parts more. fully-hereinafter described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawin in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a refrigeration system with an embodiment of the invention installed therein;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the improved valve and Figure 3 is a sectional view of a modified form of the invention.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the reference numeral lfi designates the casing of the valve having the outlet opening I2 for connection to a capillary tube, orifice or restrictor and pening [4 for the connector I6 to connect the nector I6 is provided with the hexagon shoulder l 8 for the manipulation thereof.

The casing I is provided with a threaded seat to receive the shut off valve stem 22 of the shut off valve 23 which is provided with the seat 25 and communicates with the relief valve by passage 27, and a packing gland nut 24 and packing 26 provides a liquid tight joint between the stem and casing. The stem 22 is provided with the extension 29 which extends to a point adjacent the relief valve 28 which is urged against the seat 30 by a spring 32 which is retained in position by the connector 16.

A port 34 is drilled in the casing l0 and then closed by the plug 36 being soldered therein and the port communicates with the by-pass passage 38, which communicates by passage 42 with the check valve 44 and a spring 45 urges the valve 44 against the seat 48 which communicates with the relief valve 28 and a plug 50 is soldered in the valve to the liquid receiver tank and the con- 2 base-iz'to retain the springwin position. and the casing is provided with the threaded opening 514 to receive the fitting 56 for connection totthe cute let of the condenser:

The-check valve and relief' valvemay. be'disc as shown or ball, conical or piston type. using a material: depending: on type 0% refrigerant used,

Inthe modification. shown Figure 3; the pipe 58 from-the-condenser is connected to a. two way backseating valve lioswh-i'ch is; connectedv to the receiving tankby: apipe 62- amt. a pressure reliefvalve 64:, and check valve- 662 are connected acrossthe-pipes 58 and 621 Thus-threevalves are used to control the-refrigerant. instead: of: onev as shown in Figure 2. In this form. of? the invention the valveis notconstructed: as.- shown in. Figure 2, thus valve 64 will function asthe valvefidl: and valve 66 will function. as the valve. 44. Thus. it will be seen thatathree separateand distinct. units must be used to perform the same operation; as the valve shown. in Figure 2'.

In Figure 1 a typical hookup is shown employing the control valve wherein the capillary tube 68 is connected to the opening l2. The liquid receiving tank 10 is connected to the casing by the connector l6 and the condenser outlet 12 of the condenser 14 is connected to the fitting 56. The condenser 14 by connection to the compressor or pump 16 and the cooling coils 18 are interposed between the compressor and capillary tube 68.

During the original operation of a system using this control valve, valve stem 22 is turned to unseat valve 23, which would allow the refrigerant in the receiving tank 10 to flow through check valve 44 and mix with refrigerant from the condenser 14 and flow through passage 38 out outlet 12 through capillary tube 68. During normal operation the refrigerant will pass through compressor T6 to condenser 14 to valve to capillary tube 68, which expands refrigerant into coils or evaporator 18 and then to suction side of compressor 16.

When the evaporator 18 reaches correct temperature the compressor 16 shuts off and the pressure in condenser 14 and in the valve drops to approximately the evaporator pressure, at this time any refrigerant in the receiving tank above the evaporator pressure will find its way out through connector I6 through check valve 44 as before.

If at anytime a pressure is developed on the high side of the refrigeration system that is greater than the setting of the pressure relief valve 28 the refrigerant will pass through this valve out connector l6 into the receiver or storage tank 10. The high pressure may be caused by oil slugging, dirt or freezing in the capillary tube 68, high room temperature causing high condenser pressure, power failures long enough to allow liquid refrigerant to settle in compressor crankcase, and. by heavy loads placed on the evaporator coil such as storing a lot of warm products at one time or by having doors open during rush hours on warm days.

As soon as the cause of the high pressure is remedied the refrigerant starts leaving the re ceiver tank where it follows the course of flow previously mentioned.

The extension 29 on the stem 22 is for the purpose of opening relief valve for pump down purposes for shipment or repairs since it allows the pressure in the condenser and the receiver tank to remain equal and permits conventional method of service operations.

This valve provides complete safety and ease of service when a capillary, restrictor or orifice type of control is used on any size of refrigeration system. I

In Figure 3 when the valve stem 80 is turned in the refrigerant travels from condenser to cap illary tube connection 82 thereby by-passing the line to receiver tank which is closed. When the valve stem 80 is turned out the gas travels from condenser to receiver tank and the connection to capillary tube is closed tight.

It is believed the operation and construction of the valve will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, provided they fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: I

1. In an apparatus of the type described ineluding a compressor condenser, evaporator means and receiving tank for refrigerant connected in a closed circuit, the improvement comprising valve assembly means including a supply inlet and the receiving tank connected to said inlet, said valve assembly means including a relief valve controlling the supply to said receiving tank and a check valve controlling the supply from said receiving tank to said relief valve, said valve assembly means being located in the circuit between the outlet of the condenser and the inlet to the evaporator means, a capillary tube between said valve and said evaporator, said valve adapted to compensate for pressure change in said circuit to permit normal fiow of the refrigerant under normal pressure or bypass said refrigerant to said receiving tank upon rise of pressure through said relief valve and. return said refrigerant to said circuit through said check valve upon reduction in pressure.

2.- The improvement as in claim 1 wherein said valve assembly means is provided with a shut-01f valve and said-valve assembly means comprises a casing for housing the shut-off valve, the pressure relief valve and the check valve, and means is provided for connecting said casing to said evaporator means, condenser means and receiving tank.

KEITH E. WILSON.

- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,583,834 Humphrey May 11, 1926 1,878,798 Mufily Sept. 20, 1932 2,183,343 Alsing Dec. 12, 1939 2,420,554 Mott May 13, 1947 

